Days Are Numbered
by Iris RainbowWolf
Summary: First Installment. Starts S2. Ally McDonough is living life in the apocalypse day to day. Though she is weary of strangers, she still lives every day like it could be her last. Because it very well could be. With a crazy ex-cop gunning for her and the dead walking around, can Ally survive life with the group? Or will her number finally be up? DarylxOC. Slow burn.
1. Day Sixty Four

**Chapter One**

 **-Day Sixty Four-**

Living life day to day, it's easy to forget exactly how much time has passed. When the days start to bleed together, you start to ask yourself. When was the last time I ate? The last time I slept? Can I survive for just one more day? These are the questions that I suppose everyone started asking the moment the dead started eating the living.

That was about sixty-four days ago. You see, I'm one of the few who count the days. Because I know that my number could be up at any moment.

For the past few months, I've done nothing but run. From both the living and the dead. But it wasn't like I was running towards anything. I didn't have anyone. No family, and any friend I had in the old world was long since dead.

I tried the 'group thing' once, tried making a connection with other people. They were nice and decent at first, but after a month with the dead they easily turned poisonous. The men had a darkness in them, a type of darkness that turned off any regards to human life. It didn't take long for them to start taking whatever frustrations they had out on the women in the group.

It was rough, but I stayed on guard. I fought when I could, but took the beatings when I had to. A little over a month later, when the groups 'leader' decided to sneak into my tent, I was ready for him. I took my hunting knife and jammed it into his throat. I didn't spare a second as I grabbed my pack and stole back the rest of my weapons before running off into the night.

I avoided people like the plague after that. Not that I really ran into all that many people as I made my way into Atlanta.

This was life now. And everyone's days were numbered.

* * *

There had been an explosion earlier this morning, I didn't know where it had come from. And I didn't really care. That loud of a noise would draw every single walker for miles. Getting caught in that shit storm was not something I wanted to do. So I made my way as far away from the hot zone as I possibly could. There was no way I could make it out of the city before nightfall.

So I had holed myself up in an abandoned nursing home. The only thing that left in this entire building was me and the dead ones. The _real_ dead ones, the dead that didn't rise back up again. Something bad had happened here, judging from the execution style killing of the elderly people on the floor. It was sickening, but at least it was safe for now. After clearing as much of the building as I could, I stashed myself away in a small room.

After making myself comfortable on my sleeping bag, I pulled out one of the few books I still owned. I really wasn't much of a reader, not until almost three months ago. My old boss had wanted me to learn everything I could about the hunting gear we sold, which meant reading. Lots of it. When the world ended, the literature turned from weaponry to all around survival.

Turns out I was a learning-by-reading pro.

An hour later, I finally gave up on my book and pulled out a can of spaghetti-O's and a bag of cheeto's. Feast of kings. However, my meal was interrupted by the sound of gunshots. Gunshots and voices. Fuck.

I was on my feet in an instant, hunting knife in hand.

Silently I listened to the groups footsteps as they drew closer. With each step they took, my breathing slowed more and more. By the time the reachd the door to my room, I think my breathing stopped all together.

Slowly the sets of footsteps continued walking passed the room I was in, but I could see the shadow of one of the people from under the door. I had locked the door, but it really wasn't that difficult to pick a lock. Which was exactly what the stranger did.

On instinct I sunk back down to the ground, trying to make myself as small as possible. With my knife out in front of me, I watched as the door swung open. Revealing a large black crossbow in it's wake.

"Rick, we got a live one!" the man called out, his voice carrying an obvious southern twang. Not even a full minute later, two men were rushing to the door. My heart was pounding in my chest as the three of them approached, weapons still raised. As if _I_ was the threat.

"What happened here?" one of the new comers asked, a black rifle pointed at my face. I didn't dare to bat it away. "WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?" the man all but shouted as he cocked the gun. Almost instantly the other newcomer came forward and pushed the gun down.

"Ma'am..." he started, his voice a lot kinder than his friends.

"I have no clue what happened" I told them. "It was like this when I got here a few hours ago."

"My name is Rick Grimes" the third man introduced. "This is Shane and Daryl" Rick added, pointing to each man respectively. "We're with a larger group, you got anybody around here that we should be worried about?"

I automatically didn't like Shane, he had the same kind of darkness in him that the men in my old group had. I could see it in his eyes. But the other two, Rick and Daryl, seemed all right to me. Not that I trust them.

"Tally McDonough" I responded, finally putting away my knife. Slowly, I started to rise back up to my full height. Only to get the shot gun pointed at me once more. "I'm just standing up." I told him, raising my hands up in a surrender of sorts. "And no, It's just me. Has been for a while."

"Bullshit" Shane scoffed, obviously not believing me.

"You're welcome to join us, if you want to" Rick offered, ignoring his friends protests. Daryl was still silent, looking at the weaponry I had near my sleeping bag. The man was right to be cautious.

"I don't know..." I really didn't want to take a chance being with a group. Even if it were just for a night. For all I knew, Ricks 'nice-guy' act was just that. A ploy to get my guard down. It wasn't though, and I soon found my self inviting the group to stay in the room with me, since I had already cleaned it out.

I met everybody a short while later. There was one deciding factor that told me that these were good people. They had two young children with them. At first I was worried, and almost ran out of the room when I saw that the little girl and her mother both had bruises on them. But I was instantly reassured that the man who hurt them was gone, eaten. He wasn't coming back.

On day sixty five, I found myself sitting in the back of the RV with the others. We were on our way to Fort Benning.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, so I know I probably shouldn't be starting another story. But I've been tweaking this idea for quite a while now, the man issue that I had was my OC's name. I could never decide on it. Also at first Tally was going to e Lori's sister, but honestly since I (first off) cant stand Lori, and I already have a story where the OC is related to the Grimes family ( _In The End_ ) I decided to make Tally _not_ related to them lol. **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I do apologize if it seems kind of...ramble-y, or if Tally seems like she's contradicting herself. I promise It'll get better.**

 **So, let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is always welcome, and if you guys have any idea, let me know. I'd be glad to hear them. If they get used, I'll be sure to credit you. :)**

 **As Always, Leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf )0(**


	2. Day Sixty Five

**Chapter Two**

 **-Day Sixty Five-**

I was invited to join their group, permanently . It was really a tough decision, but I could tell that these people weren't like my last group. Shane was, but I could ignore him.

So early on the sixty fifth day, I helped everyone siphon what gas we could before we set out on the road. They were even getting rid of a few of their vehicles. Well, there goes my plan to stay as far away from Shane. We were both going to stuck inside the RV. Thankfully we weren't going to be alone. I knew the man for less than a day, and I already pretty much hated him.

Didn't really have an opinion yet on anyone else.

I was definitely jealous of Daryl, though. I haven't been on a motorcycle in a long time. Honestly, if I knew the redneck better, then I would have asked to ride with him. Even though he seemed like the type of guy who liked his space.

There was a slight chill in the morning air. Sure I knew that it would warm up some as the day went on, but I still pulled on my faded pink sweatshirt with the rhinestone wings on the back. As I zipped it up over my black tank top, I heard Glenn chuckle behind me.

"What?" I asked as I turned to face him. Instead of answering he just pointed towards Daryl, who was pulling on an angel wing kutte. "Oh."

"I know we haven't known you very long, but I can tell that you and Daryl already have more than taste in clothing in common." He told me as we settled into our seats in the RV.

"Oh yea? How so?" I couldn't help but ask.

"It's hard to explain..."

"Speak your mind, Glenn" I told him.

"Well, you both seem sort of...grumpy." He said. I couldn't be mad at his words. Honestly I found the way the guy fidgeted around his phrasing kind of funny. "I-I'm sorry if..." Glenn stammered when I didn't say anything.

"It's cool, man" I waved him off. "I've been called worse."

Shortly after we were all settled, we were on the road.

For the most part the ride was a silent one. At least on my part. I didn't know what to say to these people, all I knew about them was their names. Besides, they only talked to each other any ways. Strangely I didn't feel left out of the conversations. Especially considering all they really talked about was the sixty four days before we met. Sometimes throwing in a story or two about their past lives, their lives before the turn.

I knew we wouldn't get to Fort Benning before nightfall, that was a pipe dream. But of course Shane threw a mini-tantrum about it. It was only an hours drive. If there wasn't roadblocks and walkers and Dale's shotty engine to worry about, then we probably would have made it. So sure, I understood where the hot head was coming from.

But what was another day in the gran scheme of things. If tomorrow went the same as today then we would be there by tomorrow night.

We had maybe an hour before sunset, so the group made a decision to clear a house for the night. Only four of us would be going on, I was only going because Rick didn't trust me enough to watch over the others just yet. Which I couldn't possibly find offensive, he was only doing right by his family.

The house was small, and whoever had lived there before...well they never left. Thankfully there was only two of them and they were easily taken out.

We all settled in not to long later and enjoyed our meager dinner of squirrel.

"So, Tally, where are you from?" Dale asked me kindly.

"Oh, um..." I was almost surprised that they were finally starting to ask me questions like this. They should have done this last night. "Here, originally. Moved up north when I was a kid. Moved back here a few years ago." I told him.

"I thought I heard a slight accent in your voice" the old man smiled.

"Yea," I chuckled. "It dumbed down a lot over the years. But since I've been back, it's gotten a bit thicker."

"You have any family out there?" Lori asked me as she stroked back her sons hair.

"No"

Hopefully they heard the tone in my voice. The one that said that I didn't want to talk about that part of my life.

"What's your favorite color?" Sophia suddenly asked after a few minutes, causing my to chuckle.

"Glitter" I told her.

"Glitter's not a color." The little girl giggled, which caused her mother to smile appreciatively.

"Sure it is" I scoffed. "Pink glitter's the best though" I told her, winking playfully. The people who knew me in the world before were always surprised to hear that my favorite color was pink and that I loved all things glittery.

As we talked, I started to clean my weapons. Mostly my gun. I never really used it, there was very little need to. Usually I used my knife. The gun was for when my back was against the wall.

"That's a pretty heavy piece" Shane commented as he chewed on his squirrel meat. ".50 cal desert eagle?" he asked, I just nodded.

"I got it from work when shit started to fall apart."

"And where is exactly did you work, little girl?" he asked.

"Just a small time hunting store in town" I shrugged. Thankfully Shane left it at that. It wasn't like I had some big secret about my past. I wasn't an expert gunman, but I could hold my own.

The children were sent to sleep not to long after that. There was another round of questions before we all turned in for the night a few hours later.

I had offered to take first watch, but before Rick could even agree or disagree, Shane shot me down. Apparently telling him just about everything about my self, I still wasn't trust worthy.

"You can watch the back with Daryl" Rick said, effectively shutting down his friend. Nodding in thanks, I grabbed my gun and headed out to the back porch.

"They send you out here to baby sit me?" Daryl asked after about twenty minutes of silence.

" _No_ " I rolled my eyes. "If anything it would should be the other way around, with me being new and all." Daryl just glanced in my direction, I just rolled my eyes. "I didn't feel like being in there with everybody. Too crowded."

Daryl seemed to understand as he hummed in response.

For the rest of the night, Daryl and I barely talked. There really wasn't much to talk about, so it wasn't that disappointed.

As the sun rose, I pulled out my notebook and wrote the day.

"What's that?" Daryl asked.

"We made it another day."

* * *

 **AN: yay chapter two! So I still feel like Tally's kind of contradicting herself. But I feel like that going to be a personality trait. She _wants_ to be around people, but she doesn't trust them and would be just fine by herself. **

**Okay, so I know that this chapter seems like it was out of no where. But I figure, it's still technically the early days of the outbreak, so Rick's group hasn't learned that people are truly horrible quite yet. And I know that I'm showing Shane's douche baggery early on, but I feel like he was always a dick, we just didn't see it until Lori rejected him.**

 **The next chapter will be the official start of season two. So hopefully it will be better.**

 **Also...yay, Tally and Daryl's first interaction. Okay, so I know that this early in the series, Daryl wouldn't care about what Tally is writing in her book. But it was necessary. Sooooo yea lol**

 **Now, I have a big question for you guys. I want Tally and Shane to have some major drama. We already know that she doesn't trust him, but what do you guys think should happen? If you give me an idea that I like, I promise to give credit where it's due.**

 **Thanks in advance for the help!**

 **As Always, Leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf**


	3. Day Sixty Six

**Chapter Three**

 **-Day Sixty Six-**

Glenn came to relieve Daryl and I shortly after midnight. When I got up in the morning, though, I felt like I hadn't slept at all. So when we loaded up into the RV, Dale offered the bed to me. There was no way I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity for more sleep, so after saying my thanks I curled up on the lumpy mattress. I was, surprisingly, out like a light shortly after.

When I woke up it was hours later and the sun was high in the sky. I probably would have slept longer if it weren't for the loud 'bang' that came from the RV's engine.

"I said it, didn't I say it? Thousand times, dead in the water" I heard Dale say from out side.

"Problem Dale?" came Shane's aggravated voice. Curious I got out of the bed and followed the others out onto the highway.

"Oh, just a small matter of being in the middle of no where with no hope of..." but Dale trailed off instantly when he realized where we were. "Okay that was dumb."

"If you can't find a radiator hose here, then you ain't looking hard enough" I smiled as I walked over to the old man.

"Whole bunch of stuff we can find" Daryl added as he searched through the back of a station wagon for any supplies that we might need. Instantly I walked over to him and started looking. I only had one set of clothes and they were in desperate need of a wash.

"I can siphon gas from these cars for a start" T-Dog offered.

"Maybe some water" Carol suggested.

"Or food" Glenn put in next.

"This is a grave yard" Lori said, causing us all to stop what we were doing momentarily. "I don't know how I feel about this."

I wanted to tell her to suck it up. We needed supplies and the people who had once owned this stuff didn't need it anymore. Either they were dead, or they were walkers. We needed it more than they did.

But I kept my mouth shut. Instead I continued looking through the back of the station wagon with Daryl.

It seemed like everyone else pretty much ignored her too as they all split off. Going from car to car.

I had my knife in hand as walked the highway. Daryl and T-Dog weren't all that far away, and I could still see the RV. Thankfully there wasn't anything that I needed to defend myself from out here.

A chill rushed down my spine when I looked inside the first car and nausea settled in my stomach. Inside was nothing but a bloody car seat. Judging by the toys and blanket, it was a baby boy. Poor thing. Resisting the urge to puke, I went to the trunk. Where there was a baby, there were usually parents, which normally meant a mother. I just hoped we were the same size.

After a few minutes looking through the trunk, I moved on. There was nothing there. So I moved on to the next car. Jackpot.

But just as I started to bag up my new clothes, I heard them. My heart beat wildly in my chest as I spun around. They were close. And I jumped when I felt hands grab my upper arm. But before I could make a sound, one of those hands moved and covered my mouth.

"Stay quiet and follow me" It was Daryl. Frantically I nodded against his chest and he let me go. Doing as he told me to, I followed behind him without a word. We moved low to the ground, staying unseen and unheard by the walkers. It was when one of them veered away from the others that we followed.

Quietly, Daryl put his cross bow on the hood of a near by car and shoved his large hunting knife through the walkers skull. Effectively saving T-Dog. The other man was limply laying on the ground and had a huge gash on his arm.

"Get under there" Daryl told me, pointing towards the car he had put his crossbow on. Nodding I dropped to the ground and crawled under the car. At least I had it better than T-Dog, whom Daryl camouflaged with the freshly killed walker.

For the next twenty minutes I barely even breathed. Knuckles were white with tension as I held my knife in a death grip. And my eyes were pinched shut as the sound of the walkers shuffled steps went by.

Once it was safe to move I crawled out from my hiding spot and helped Daryl with T-Dog. Silently I helped the man bind his very large wound as best as I could. I was no doctor, but that shit looked bad.

"You know to use that?" Daryl asked me lowly, nodding towards his crossbow. Quietly I bit my lip and picked up the heavy weapon.

"I'm sure I could figure it out."

* * *

Thankfully I didn't need it as we made our way back to the RV. But things were much worse, apparently Sophia had run off and she hadn't come back yet. Rick had gone after her, but when he returned alone, he brought out a small group to help track her.

I didn't know how to comfort Carol, so instead I busied my self with gathering everything that everyone had found and putting it in one place. This way when Sophia came back, it would be easier to sort through and pack up.

It was almost a half an hour later when Shane and Glenn came back, giving us 'chores' to do. Obviously it was a tactic to keep us distracted from what was going on in those woods. If I knew how to track, then I would have been right out there with them. But I didn't, so I wasn't. I also wasn't any good at comforting people, so while Carol stood near the guard rail with her eyes on the trees, I tried my best to ignore her.

So while the other Lori and Andrea comforted Carol, and the others were organizing supplies. I scouted ahead.

"Why aren't we all out there looking? Why are we moving cars?" I heard Carol asked when I made it back to the RV.

"We have to clear enough room so that I can get the RV turned around soon as its running." Dale told her. "Now that we have fuel we cn a double back to a bypass that Glenn flagged on the map."

"Going back's going to be easier than trying to get through this mess" I nodded. "We'd be here for days triyng to move cars out of the way."

"We're not going any where until my daughter gets back" Carol stated.

"That goes without saying" Lori nodded as she walked by with a laundry basket filled with scavenged clothes.

"Rick and Daryl, they're on it, okay?" Shane sighed, I could tell that he was trying to play 'good cop' with the distraught mother. "It's just a matter of time."

"Can't be soon be soon enough for me" came Andrea, handing a bottle of water to Glenn. "i'm still freaked out by that herd that passed us by. Or whatever you'd call it."

"Yea what was that?" Glenn asked "All of them just marching along like that?"

"A herd... yea that sounds about right. I've seen it a few times before on my way to Atlanta." I nodded.

"Just like back at camp" Shane agreed. I had heard, of course, about the attack on their Quarry Camp. "Just a wandering pack, maybe fewer." There was silence as everyone took a moment for their dead. I couldn't blame them. I never lost anybody to a herd, at least not that I knew of. "Okay, come on people, we still got a lot to do, come on" Shane finished after a sharp exhale, spurring all of to finish doing what we could to pass the time before Rick and Daryl came back with Sophia.

Carol, however, still stayed vigilant at the guard rail.

The sun was setting by the time Rick and Daryl made it out of the woods, both of them covered in walker blood. I don't think the others noticed it, at least not yet. I stood back as I watched the groups exchange. It wasn't right that Carol was blaming Rick for her daughter running off and getting herself lost. Sure Sophia was a good, sweet kid, but she should have known to wait until it was safe before she left er hiding spot.

But I didn't dare speak my mind.

Instead I watched as Carol finally noticed the blood on Daryl's pants. Hyperventilating when she heard the word 'walker'.

"There was no sign that it was anywhere Sophia" Rick tried to calm her, not that it was doing any good.

"How can you know that?" Andrea asked.

"We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure." Daryl told them, after Rick looked to him for some sort of help.

Gross. I do not envy them.

"How could you just leave her out there to begin with?" Carol asked Rick. "How could you just leave her!?"

"Those two walkers were on us" Rick tried to explain. "I had to draw them off. It was her best chance."

"It doesn't sound like he had much of a choice, Carol" I said quietly. But my words were left unheard.

"How is she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child" Carol whimpered.

"It was my only option. The only choice I could make" Rick tried to explain to the distraught woman.

"I'm sure nobody doubts that" Shane told his friend.

"My little girl got left in the woods" Carol sobbed.

Slowly everyone started to go their separate ways. Except for Andrea and Lori, who stayed by Carol.

Hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.

* * *

 **AN: Yay chapter three! So, so far I have given you guys a chapter a day. Literally all I've been doing while my daughter naps in write, lol. If I play my cards right, I should have most, if not all, of the next chapter written out by later on tonight. Tomorrow morning at the latest. Sooooo, yay! lol**

 **Okay, so for some reason unknown to everyone Daryl seems to be drawn to Tally. Could it be because he knows she hiding something, or could it just be because he finds her attractive? Also, what was with Tally's reaction to the bloody car seat?**

 **Let me know what y'all think!**

 **As Always, Leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf )0(**


	4. Day Sixty Seven

**Chapter Four**

 **-Day Sixty Seven-**

Walking up at dawn was something I had gotten used to. However, what I wasn't used to was the sensation of another body next to mine. Somehow Daryl and I had gotten stuck sharing the floor of the RV last night. And at some point in the night we had wrapped ourselves around each other.

Being a cuddler was not something I liked about myself.

"Shit" I groaned. Thankfully the others hadn't woken up yet to see us in this position. With a yawn, I pulled away from Daryl and grabbed my bag. It was good to finally be able to change my clothes. I could tell that it was going to be a hot one. So I dressed accordingly in my ripped up black shorts and a thinly striped spaghetti strap tank top.

When I came back out of the bathroom, everyone was starting to wake up and Andrea was waiting for me to finish.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry if I took too long" I apologized.

"No, it's fine" the blonde waved me off with a yawn. "I just got up myself."

"Okay, well, uh, I'll see you out there..." I told her as I walked towards the door, leaving Andrea alone in the RV.

Out side the sun was still low, but the birds were chirping and the day was already warming up. Just in case though, I made sure to throw my angel wing sweat shirt into my bag while we were getting ready for the day. Off to the side, I saw Daryl puffing on a cigarette so I walked over to him.

"Mind if I bum one?" I asked. He didn't answer, instead he just offered the pack to me. Nodding in appreciation, I slid a stick of tobacco out of the pack and pulled my zippo from my pocket. I was going to need to find lighter fluid soon.

I had to hold back a moan at the sensation. It had been too long since my last smoke. This was heaven.

It didn't take long for everyone to finish getting ready for our day of walking through the woods. Hopefully today would be an easy one, that we'd find Sophia somewhere close and get our asses off the highway before another herd blew through. Or else we'd loose alot more.

Once everyone was surrounding a nearby car, Rick placed an array of weapons on the hood. Apparently Carl had found them when he wandered off yesterday. From there it was decided that everyone except for T-Dog and Dale would stay behind. Dale needed to continue fixing the RV and T-Dog was too injured for him to be wandering around the woods all day.

"Everybody takes a weapon" Rick said as he rolled out the small arsenal. I didn't bother grabbing anything. I had my large knife, that was good enough for me.

"Those aren't the weapons we need" Andrea spoke up. "What about the guns?" she asked.

"We've been over that" Shane told her. "Daryl, Rick, Tally and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."

"It's not the trees I'm worried about" Andrea scoffed. Thankfully she didn't question why I got to keep my gun.

"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment and herd happens to be nearby, see then it's game over for all of us" Shane started. "So you need to get over it."

"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around, come back down the other side." Daryl told everybody. "Chances are, she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."

"Stay quiet, stay sharp" Rick added. "Keep space between you but always stay in sight of eachother."

With that we all broke off to get our packs ready. Not long after that, Andrea tried to get her gun back once again. Telling Dale thats he wouldn't go out into the woods without it.

"Then stay the fuck here then" I grumbled as I put my old jeans and a spare shirt into my bacg. Anything could happen out there and we could easily get separated.

"You leavin' the group or somethin'?" I heard Daryl's low voice speak up beside me. Fucking redneck ninja.

"What?" I asked, where the hell did he get that idea. Instead of answering verbally, he just pointed towards the thin blanket that was in my hand. "Nah," I shook my head. "it's just in case."

Daryl seemed to understand as he nodded and walked away silently. Well that was fucking strange.

We left not long after that, Carl had even been allowed to come with us. I guess that was both a good and bad thing.

Just as Daryl said we would, we walked up one side of the creek in a single line. With Daryl in the didn't make it that far, however, before we came across a tent. Someone had set up there camp here.

"She could be in there" Shane suggested as we all crouched down low to the ground and looked at the pretty well hidden tent.

"Yea, could be a bunch of things in there" Daryl muttered as he crept forward. Rick and Shane instantly followed behind the hunter, motioning for Carol to stay put when she stood.

Biting my lip, I watched as Daryl put down his crossbow and pulled his knife. He tried to peek through the tent's rain cover, but couldn't see anything.

"Carol," Rick whispered, calling the woman forwards. "Call out softly. If she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear."

We all stood silent as Carol called out for her little girl, letting her know that we were all here and that she was safe now. " When there was no answer, Daryl pulled back the zipper of the tent slowly. As soon as he opened the tent door, he coughed. Obviously there was something dead in there.

"Daryl?" I called out to him when he hadn't come back out.

"Ain't her" the man said, stepping out of the tent a moment later.

"What was in there?" I asked.

"Some guy, did what Jenner said. Opted out, ain't that what he called it?" Daryl answered as he shoulder his crossbow. Suddenly the sound of church bells filled the air.

* * *

Sophia wasn't at the church. It didn't look like anybody had been there in a very long time. At least not since the day the world ended. With the empty church, everyone's hope seemed to deflate a little bit more.

Carol had decided to go back in. Her prayer made me want to cry. How could a father do that to his own daughter? He deserved much worse than becoming walker chow.

Sighing, I walked a little ways away from the group. I just needed the distance for a while. I almost jumped when a hand came forward over my shoulder.

"Fucking hell, Daryl, I'm getting you a goddamn bell" I grumbled. That man was way to quiet for his own good. But he came bearing gifts, so with a nod of thanks, I took the cigarette.

"Ya'll gunna follow the creek bed back. Daryl, you're in charge" Shane said as he and Daryl walked over to us. "Me and Rick, we just gunna hang back, search this area for another hour or so. Just to be thorough."

"You're splitting us up?" Daryl asked. "You sure?" I could tell that he wasn't all that fond of being in charge. Not that I blamed him.

"Yea" Shane nodded. "We'll catch up to you."

"I wanna stay too" Carl said, stepping towards his father. "I'm her friend."

"Be careful okay?" Lori told her son.

"I will" the boy nodded

"Here, take this" Rick said, handing his Colt Python to his wife. "Remember how to use it?"

"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed" Lori responded.

"Here," Daryl stepped forward. "I got a spare. Take it" he told her, handing her a small revolver. Andrea's scoff didn't go unnoticed by me. Rolling my eyes, I followed behind Daryl as we left the church ground and walked back down the other side of the creek bed.

"So this is it?" Carol asked a little while later, sitting down on a fallen tree. "This is the whole plan?"

"Guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups" Daryl answered as we all stopped walking.

"Carrying knives and pointy sticks" Andrea scoffed. "I see you have a gun" she added, looking towards Lori.

"Why you want it?" Lori asked, obviously as fed up with Andrea's complaining as I was. She was just being nicer about it. "Here, take it" She added, handing the hand gun to the blonde. "I'm sick of the looks your giving me."

I half listened as Lori told off everyone. A part of me felt mildly insulted, I never once blamed Rick, and honestly I felt like he was doing the best he could when it came to leading this group. Not one little bit of this was his fault.

Finally, at the end of her rant, Lori was given back her gun and we continued beating the brush for Sophia.

* * *

There had been a gun shot maybe an hour ago. I couldn't tell the direction, but it sounded like it came from where we had left Rick, Shane and Carl. So naturally everyone's nerves were on edge. The sun was hanging lower, we still hadn't found Sophia and there had been a gunshot.

"We all heard it" Daryl said as we walked through the woods, thankfully we were getting closer to the highway.

"But why was it just one?" Lori asked. She was obviously freaking out, and I couldn't blame her.

"Maybe they took down a walker" Daryl suggested with a shrug

"Please don't patronize me" Lori all but scoffed. "You know Rick wouldn't risk a gun shot for one walker, neither would Shane. They'd do it quietly."

Well, she wasn't wrong. Both men were smart enough to not use their guns for a single walker. The noise from the shot would only bring in more.

"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asked softly, looking to where Daryl and I stood.

"There's nothing we can do about it any way" Daryl said.

"He's right" I agreed. "We can't run around the woods chasing echoes."

"So what do we do?" Lori sighed.

"Same as we've been" the redneck shrugged. "Beat the bush for Sophia and work our way back to the highway."

"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV" Andrea tried to reassure Lori. But I don't think it was working. Honestly I had a sick feeling in my stomach and as much as I agreed with Daryl, I had the urge to run off and make sure the others were okay. "I'm sorry for what you're going through" ahe directed to Carol. "I know how you feel."

"I suppose you do, thank you" Carol smiled kindly. "The thought of her, out here by herself...It's the not knowing that's killing me. I just keep hoping and praying that she doesn't wind up like Amy." At the womans' words, Andrea's face visibly fell. "Oh god, that's the worst thing I've ever said."

"We're all hoping and praying with you," Andrea shook her head "For what it's worth."

I don't think anyone else heard the underlying tone of bitch in the blondes voice.

"I'll tell you what it's worth" Daryl stepped forward. "Not a _damn thing_. It's a waste of time all this hoping and praying." I went to tell off Daryl, but before I could even open my mouth, he continued talking. "Cuz we're going to locate that little girl, and she's gunna be just _fine._ "

But it was what came out of his mouth next that had my jaw drop in shock.

"Am I the only one zen around here? Good lord." the man said as he walked past me. "Come on, Talulah, we got shit to do."

We walked for a little while longer to no avail. There was no sign that Sophia had been through here. As we walked, I followed Daryl's eyes, trying to see what he saw. But it was damn near impossible. Maybe I'd ask him for tracking lessons sometime.

* * *

It was Carl. Little Carl was the reason behind the gunshot. Not that he had been allowed to handle the weapon. No, the small boy had been shot. At least, according the woman who had rode up on our small group on a horse asking for Lori. And the mother went with the stranger, even though Daryl told her not to. We didn't know her.

But she _did_ know Rick and Carl's names. And she had saved Andrea's life from a walker.

The sun was setting when we made it back to camp. T-Dog's injury had gotten worse throughout the day, and Daryl surprised us with his brothers drugs. Apparently the missing Dixon had gotten the clap more than once. Gross.

By the time night fell, T-Dog and Glenn had left with Carol's car to reconnect with the others. And to get T-Dog more help. There wasn't much more that we could do for him. The rest of us stayed behind just in case Sophia made her way back to us.

And again, Daryl and I were stuck on the floor of the RV. Surrounded by Carol's sobbing and Andrea's incessant fiddling with gun parts.

"Come on" Daryl muttered, nudging my shoulder before standing. "Let's walk the road for a bit" he added, putting a hand out to help me stand.

It's just as well, it wasn't like I could sleep anyways.

* * *

 **AN: So chapter four is the longest one so far! Seriously it came really close to not getting posted today. But I made it!**

 **It also came really close to being a two parter. Day 67 is a long one lol.**

 **Okay so I decided a while ago that when Daryl gets frustrated for one reason or another, then he will call Tally by her real name. Also I'm probably going to just have her go by 'Ally' instead of 'Tally'. Just letting ya'll know so that you don't get confused and think it's a whole knew character lol.**

 **Sooooo what did you think of this chapter? Daryl and Tally seem to be gravitating towards each other more and more. How do you think that's gunna play out? I'd like to hear your theories on how Daryl and Ally are going to get together!**

 **Since Daryl is such a standoffish person, it's difficult to get him a girlfriend, lol. In my other story my character kind of annoyed him until he caved in lol.**

 **As Always, Leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf )0(**

 **PS: Also, how would you guys feel about a flashback chapter soon? I'm not too fond of doing them, but I feel like later on in the story that it would work. Like when ally reveals her past.**

 **For instance, when she talks about the last group she was with.**


	5. Day Sixty Eight

**Chapter Five**

 **-Day Sixty Eight-**

Shane told an obviously bullshit story the next day. Saying that the man the Greene family had lost had sacrificed himself so that Carl could live. It was bull shit. It was all bull shit, but I don't think anyone other than Daryl and Dale had noticed it. I think they were blinded by the fact that Carl was going to live.

The darkness had just about taken over that man. And it was only a matter of time before it spilled over and affected the group more than this world already has.

After the funeral for Otis, we all gathered around Carol's Cherokee and waited for Maggie, the doctors eldest daughter, to get back to us with a map of the area.

"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel Greene asked us.

"This will be day three" Rick answered as Maggie walked over to us.

"County survey map" she said as she rolled it out in front of us. "Shows terrain and elevations."

"This is perfect" Shane commented as we all looked at the map. "We can finally get this thing organized."

"We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams" Rick planned.

"Not you. Not today." Hershel shook his head. "You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out. And you're ankle" he added, looking at Shane. "Push it now and you'll be laid up for a month, no good to anybody."

"Guess it's just us then" Daryl said "We'll head back to the creek, work our way back up from there."

Why the hell was he looking at me, as if this was my decision?

"Um, yea, that, uh...that sounds like a plan." I nodded. What the fuck?

"I can still be useful" Shane said. "Drive up to the interstate. See if Sophia wandered back."

"Ally, maybe you should stay here?" Rick suggested. Um, why? I went to open my mouth to argue, but Rick easily interrupted me. "I'd like you to stay here, help me keep an eye on things and help set up camp."

Glancing at Daryl I just shook my head and sighed. "Fine."

"Alright" Rick nodded. "We'll start doing this right."

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives" Shane spoke up "They need the gun training we've been promising them."

I swear, Andrea started glowing. That woman had a one track mind.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property" Hershel told us. "We've managed so far with out turning this into an armed camp."

"All due respect"Shane told him. "You get a crowd of these things wandering in here..."

With out saying a word, I pulled my desert eagle from it's holster. Removing the clip and popping the one in the chamber with ease before placing the gun on the hood of the car.

"We're guests here." I shrugged when everyone looked at me "This is his property, we should respect that."

Rick seemed to agree with me as he pulled his Python from it's holster on his hip and placed it next to mine. Shane followed his lead, placing his baretta next to the Python. But I could tell that he didn't want to, that he was against it.

"First things first. Set camp, find Sophia."

"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to..." Shane started. "What happens if one of us finds her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how to handle that."

It was a valid question, and I bit my lip waiting for Rick's answer. This wasn't an easy decision to make. I did not envy Rick right now.

"You do what needs to be done" the man struggled. I could tell he was wasn't fond of the idea of putting down a twelve year old girl.

"And her mother, what do you tell her?" Maggie asked.

"The truth" Andrea shrugged.

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons" Shane said. "Make sure no one's carrying until we get to a practice range off site. I do request one rifleman on lookout, Dale's got experience."

Hershel seemed to struggled with that. He was obviously uncomfortable with the idea of someone toting a gun of any kind, for any reason, around his home. I didn't blame him. We were strangers, after all.

"Our people would feel safe" Rick said, looking at the old man. "Less inclined to carry a gun." Hershel finally agreed after a minute, realizing that Rick was right.

"That stuff you brought, got more antibiotics, bandages, anything like that?" I heard Maggie asked as I followed after Daryl. I wasn't going with him to find Sophia, So I figured I would ask him where he wanted his tent.

And just as I figured, Daryl wanted his tent as far away from the others as he could while still technically being in the same camp as the rest of us. He had even offered me his brothers old tent, which I set up right next to his.

As Daryl started walking off into the woods, I heard the short conversation between him and Rick. I couldn't help but wonder what his other plans were.

Once he was out of sight, I went to find Dale and T-Dog to see if they needed help gathing water from the nearby well. Only as I drew closwer, I saw they others walking with Dale towards the well.

Something was wrong.

"What's going on?" I asked once we all made it to the well.

"Looks like we got us a swimmer" was Dale's answer. Looking down, I wanted to puke. Snarling at the bottom of well was a large, water logged walker.

"How long do you think it's been down there?" Glenn asked.

"Long enough to grow gills."

"We can't leave it in there" Lori said. "God knows what it's already done to the water."

"We gotta get it out" I nodded.

"Easy, put a bullet in it's head" T-Dog stated with a shrug. "I'll get a rope." But Maggie instantly veto'ed that option. And a part of me felt as if it wasn't because of water contamination.

"Why not?" Glenn asked "It's a good plan."

"It's a stupid plan" I scoffed. "If the waters not already contaminated, blowing the head off of that thing will finish the job."

"She's right" I could tell that it pained Shane to say that. "Can't risk it."

"So it has to come out alive?" T-Dog asked, keeping his eyes one the bloated walker.

"So to speak" I shrugged.

"How do we do that?"

Spam. That was our great plan. A block of fake meat tied to a rope and dangled in front of the hungry walker.

"There's a reason why the dead didn't come back to life and start raiding our cupboards." Lori joked.

"We need live bait" Andrea concluded. Oh this wasn't going to end well.

* * *

Glenn had been volunteered to bring the walker out of the well. And he succeeded...sort of. The thing split in half. The upper half was on the ground in front of us, and the lower half fell back into the well.

So that plan failed and we sealed the well up so that no one could drink the now horribly contaminated water. And Maggie had a horrible reaction to T-Dog bashing in the walkers weak skull. They must not get many walkers out here, that would change. The dead always found a way to the living. It was only a matter of time.

A while after the debacle at the well, we all went our separate ways. For a little while, I decided to walk around the Greene's property. not far, but far enough to catch my breath, so much has happened. When the sun started to sink, I made my way back to camp.

There wasn't much to do, though, I went to check on Carol. I knew that she must have been having an even worse time today.

The inside of the RV was damn near spotless.

"Hey" I said softly.

"Hi" Carol sniffled.

"Daryl's gunna find her, Carol" I told her, sitting down at the table opposite of her. Then as if he had heard his name, Daryl showed up at the door. With a flower in a beer bottle. A Cherokee rose.

"I cleaned up" She said when she saw Daryl appear in the door way. "Wanted it to be nice for her."

"For a second I thought I was in the wrong place" Daryl told her in his low voice. And then, awkwardly, he put the bottle on the table.

"A flower?" Carol questioned.

"A Cherokee rose" I smiled, running a finger over one of the soft petals.

"You know the story?" Daryl asked me, I just nodded. "The story is," he continued for Carol "That when american soldiers were moving indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were loosing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just...disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to lift the mothers spirits, give them strength and hope..." Daryl trailed off.

"So the Heaven Dweller" I continued "He told them 'to let you know how much I care, I will give you a sign. In the morning, tell the women to look back along the trail. Where their tears have fallen, I will cause to grow an plant that will have seven leaves of the seven clans of the Cherokee. Amidst the plant will be a delicate white rose with five petals...'" As I spoke, Carols fingers traced each of the petals, a smile straining on her lips.

"The next day this rose started to grow right where the mothers tears fell. I'm not fool enough to think theirs any flowers blooming for my brother. But, uh, I believe this one bloomed for your little girl."

Then, slowly and awkwardly, Daryl made his way to the door. But not before looking back at us. "She's gunna really like it here."

* * *

 **AN: So I was going to put more of the Cherokee rose story in here. Or another story like it, but I decided against it. But for my second longest chapter for this story so far, I finished it in less than a few hours. All in between entertaining my daughter lol.**

 **Okay so again, Daryl and Ally seem to be drawn together. But Rick had to ruin whatever could have happened in the woods by making Ally stay behind. Booo Rick, lol.**

 **Hopefully they will get some alone time soon they that they can suss out whatever it is that's going on between them.**

 **Alright so no promises, but I'm going to try to write a flashback chapter next. But if it doesn't work out, if I'm not happy with it, then I'll trash that idea and just continue on with the story as is.**

 **Aaaand thats all folks, I might have the next chapter done by tonight, but no promises!**

 **As Always, leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf )0(**


	6. Flashback, Day Zero

**Chapter Six**

 **- _Flashback-_**

 ** _-_ _Day Zero-_**

 _Some random country song was playing lowly through the store. It wasn't even one of the catchy tunes either. No, it was the stereotypical country song. The redneck blues, I like to call them._

 _I didn't even know why we were open today. What with the notice from the CDC going up and everything. No one really knew what it was, all I knew was that the CDC was working on a cure._

 _"Hey there, Lulah, you wanna come out on a hunt with me later on this week? Try and get us a buck?" My co-worker, and best friend, asked me._

 _"I don't know, Connor..." It railed off. "Man you know I'm absolute shit in the woods."_

 _"Well, the best way to_ not _be complete shit in the woods is to get your ass out there" he told me._

 _"Ugh, fine" I groaned._

 _It's not that I'm against hunting. In fact I'm all for it, hunting for your dinner, living off the land. All of that. My problem was that I sucked at it. Connor, though, was all about it. My best friend in all of Georgia had practically been raised in the woods._

 _For the rest of the day we worked in silence. With everything that I had heard so far on the news, it made sense that nobody had come in today. Sure we had a few people come in, but only buying the minimal supplies needed for the basic summer camping trip._

 _Which was fine by me, less I needed to do._

 _"So I'm heading out to Atlanta for a club weekend with Britt, you in?" I asked as we were finally closing up for the night._

 _"Mmmm Britt" Connor groaned. They had a...thing at one point in time. Connor wasn't over it. And on some nights, like when my two friends would have too much to drink, I would become the third wheel. "Why does she hate me so?" he asked drastically._

 _"Because you're a dog" I laughed, flicking his forehead. "Plus she wants commitment."_

 _"Ugh, then why does she keep on hookin' up with me?" he asked._

 _"Not touching that one, man." I shook my head, causing him to laugh. "I don't pretend to know what goes on in that chicks mind."_

 _The sun had completely by the time we had officially closed down the store. Now all I had to do was wait for my roommate, Brittany, to come and pick me up. I couldn't wait to get my licence back. Connor waited around with me for a little while before heading off, even though he was amped to see 'his girl' this weekend, he didn't want to spoil things by trying to get back with her right now._

 _I don't know, he's a weird dude._

 _Not to long after Conner had turned the corner, I heard a crash. So, like an idiot, I went to check it out._

 _"Connor?" I called out, hoping he would respond. Instead I was met by the sound of my friends scream, "Connor!" I yelled before I started to run in the direction he had gone._

 _And I swear I almost hurled right then and there. There was Britt, only...it wasn't Britt anymore. It couldn't have been. Her clothes were torn and she had a large, bloody bite mark on the side of her neck._

 _"Oh god no" I all but whimpered. And that seemed to get Britt..._ that things _attention. Slowly it made it's way towards me. Snapping it's jaws and snarling in hunger. I didn't know what to do, there wasn't any hand book for this sort of thing. At least, I don't think there was._

 _So I did the only logical thing I could think of. I ran. I ran all the way back to the store. Thankfully that...thing wasn't all that fast and I had time to unlock the large glass door and run inside. The second I closed the door, however, the dead thing slammed itself against the door. Snarling and snapping as it tried to get at me._

 _It's a good thing I worked in a hunting and camping store. Because it looks like I was spending the night here._

* * *

 _I, in fact, didn't spend the night at my work. Britt's walking corpse moved on after a few hours and I was able to sneak out._

 _No one had come across Connors body yet, and honestly I don't think that I could deal with seeing my buddy's half eaten corpse. So I did the only thing I could do. I went home and turned on the news, waiting to hear something worth hearing._

 _But of course there wasn't anything, at least nothing really substantial. Not that told me what was really going on. Except for one thing. Atlanta. Atlanta was supposed to be safe._

 _So all day I planned, all the way until the power went out. I know that there was supposed to be a safe zone in Atlanta but I still needed time. I needed time to know if Britt and Connors bodies had been found._

 _I figured a day, maybe two, would give me enough time. And then I would leave, I'd pack some clothes, grab my gun from the store and head out to Atlanta._

 _At least that was the plan._

* * *

 **AN: Alright so this chapter was a lot short than I wanted it to be. But honestly I couldn't really think of anything else. So let's just call this a test chapter. See how you all respond to seeing Ally before the end of the world.**

 **Soooooo how did you feel about seeing Ally before the end of the word? lol .**

 **If this goes the want it too, then we'll have flash backs leading all the way up to when Daryl and the others found Ally at the nursing home. Hopefully those chapters will be longer lol.**

 **So yea, let me know what you thought of this chapter.**

 **Oh and, yay! Two chapters in one day!**

 **As Always, Leave Love**

 **)0( iris RainbowWolf )0(**


	7. Day 69

**Chapter Seven**

 **\- Day Sixty Nine -**

It felt good to wake up in my own space the next morning. Granted it was in a stank ass tent that had once belonged to a junkie, but it was still my own space. And I didn't have to worry about getting eaten in my sleep. So that was something too.

I couldn't help but stay in my sleeping bag a little while longer. The feeling was just too nice. I knew that I needed to get up soon and get ready for the day. Rick was finally letting me go out and help in the search for Sophia.

It was a chilly morning, so even though I knew that it would warm up, I pulled a grey long sleeved v-neck over my black tank top.

When I was finally dressed, I walked by Lori and Carol, who were talking about cooking dinner for Hershel and his family. I really hoped I didn't get roped into that.

"Morning guys, lets get going" Rick greeted all of us who were going to be scouting the area. "We got a lot of ground to cover." A few minutes later we all gathered around Carol's Cherokee once more and looked over the map. " Alright everyone, you're getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found then she might have made it further east than we've been so far." Rick continued, and I could see Shane discreetly shaking his head. As f he was silently countering whatever Rick said.

Asshole.

"I'd like to help" A timid voice spoke up. Turning I saw Jimmy, a young boy who Hershel had taken in when the world ended. "I know the area pretty well and stuff."

"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked.

"Yea, uh, he said I should ask you" the boy lied.

"Alright then" Rick nodded.

"Nothing about what Daryl found screams 'Sophia' to me" Shane finally spoke up. "Anybody could have been holed up in that farmhouse."

"Yea and anybody includes Sophia" I told him, folding my arms over my chest.

"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger that yay high" Daryl said, motioning to around the same size Sophia was.

"It's a good lead" Andrea nodded.

"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again" Rick was trying to remain hopeful. Hell, we all were. Except for maybe Shane.

"Ain't no maybe about it" Daryl stated. "I'm gunna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here. Get a birds eye view of the whole grid, if she's up there I'll spot her."

"Good idea" T-Dog nodded "Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too."

"What?" I almost laughed.

"What you never heard this?" Dale asked as he put the bag of guns next to the map. "Our first night at camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacara."

"Cool" was all I said before taking back my desert eagle from the old man. Not that I really needed it.

"What are you braying at, jackass?" Daryl asked when Jimmy laughed at the story.

"You believe in a blood sucking dog?" the boy asked incredulously.

"You believe in dead people walking around?" Jimmy seemed to realized the point Daryl was trying to make as he shut up and tried reaching for one of the shotguns.

"Whoa, you ever fire one before?" Rick asked as he stopped the kid.

"Well if I'm going out, I want one" Jimmy responded.

"Yea and people in hell want slurpees" Daryl said as he shouldered his cross bow.

"Ally, are you pairing up with Daryl?" T-Dog asked as the redneck in question walked off toward the stable.

"Nope."

* * *

I don't know why Rick gave me such a large grid to search. Especially considering it was just me. But that was alright. As I walked through the woods and looked for Sophia, I was able to clear the noise in my head.

Don't get me wrong, I was grateful to be with the group. Sure some of them rubbed me the wrong way, but all in all everyone was fine. Well, almost everyone.

I shook the thoughts of Shane from my head. That man brought on too many emotions that I had did my best to push as far down as I possibly could. And they weren't the happy kind.

"' _Get your ass moving Talulah. I'm coming for you._ '" I heard his voice. No, he wasn't here. I killed him. Shoved my knife into his throat, he was dead. I was sure of it. "' _Can't get rid of me that easy Ally cat._ '"

I had to ignore him.

However in the process of getting rid of a ghost from my past, I wasn't paying attention. The ledge was low, but I was still able to fall.

My leg was on fire. Looking at it through squinted eyes, I could tell that I had twisted my ankle pretty bad. I just hoped it wasn't broken.

With a whimper I tried to stand. Holy fuck that hurt. There was no way I'd be able to walk on that. Looking around the area I had fallen, I could see nothing around me but water and trees.

But maybe, just fucking maybe I could find a large enough tree branch to make some kind of crutch. That's the only way I was going to make it back to the farm on this ankle.

"' _You're weak, Ally_ '" I heard his voice again. Why the fuck won't he go away. " _You're always gunna be weak._ '"

"I wasn't weak when I slit your fucking throat, fucker" I growled. Crawling wasn't the most dignified thing I had ever done, but there was no way in hell that I was going to try walking on this ankle.

And that's when I heard it. Walkers.

I couldn't help but panic. I was weak and injured. There was no way I was going to be able kill them. I couldn't fire my gun in the position I was stuck in and using my knife at this point would be a joke.

Frantically I looked around me for a way out as the walkers drew near. There were some mangroves, and I was easily able to life my self up a little bit. But not enough. One of the walkers had gotten a hold of my leg.

"No. No No. NO!" I cried as I kicked my legs. Thankfully the walkers were pushed back by the force of my kicks. But my arms were tired from holding myself up, and I dropped once more. "Fuck it" I said through grit teeth. Using the roots once more, I pulled my self up so that I was standing.

Of course the dead mother fuckers noticed this and started for me once more. Only this time I was ready for them. Using whatever adrenaline I had coursing through me, I shoved my knife into their skulls one after the other.

"I'm not weak."

* * *

I was probably doing more damage than good at this point, but I couldn't seem to find it in me to care. I just wanted to get back to my tent and sleep off the pain. Fire coursed through my bones with every limping step I took. But I did what I could to ignore it.

His ghost didn't show up to haunt me. He wasn't real and I knew that.

I was just at the edge of the woods when I saw Daryl a short distance in front of me. He was walking strange, almost like...no. Daryl was _fine_. I had to tell myself that. Rick and Shane were with him. It looked like they were talking, I couldn't make out the words but when I saw Rick lower his gun I knew that everything was okay.

Suddenly, however, a gunshot ripped through the air and Daryl fell to the ground.

"NO!" I shouted. The pain in my leg was suddenly gone as I ran across the field to where Daryl had fallen. I ignored everyone as I dropped to my knees and tried rousing him. This man was beat to hell. "Daryl you wake the fuck up right now" I growled.

"I was kidding" he muttered. Okay so I don't know what that was about, but he was talking. Talking meant alive.

"Come on" Rick said as he and Shane lifted Daryl up.

"Here" Glenn offered a hand. With a nod of thanks I took his hand and allowed myself to be lifted off the ground, wincing int he process. "You okay?" he asked.

"Fucked up my ankle" a second later T-Dog was at my side and helping walk at a somewhat steady pace behind Shane and Rick.

"Oh my god. oh my god is he dead?" Andrea cried as she and Dale ran over to us.

"Unconscious. You just grazed him."

Andrea shot Daryl. Andrea fucking sh... I couldn't see straight. Everything was a haze of red. But then I noticed something laying on the ground where Daryl had fallen.

"T.." I pointed to it.

"Guys..." the man said as he pick up the object. "Isn't this Sophia's?" he asked.

It was Sophia's little rag doll. The same one she had with her when she ran off.

* * *

I was right, I had sprained my ankle. After we had been brought up to the house, Hershel had the guys put Daryl on the bed while I sat in a nearby arm chair. Since Daryl was still out cold, Hershel took to treating my ankle, and let me tell you... that shit fucking hurt. Especially now that the adrenaline was gone.

Now I sat with my wrapped foot propped up on Daryl's bed while Hershel stitched up his side. Once he was awake, Shane brought in the survey map and all but ordered Daryl to talk.

"I found it washed up on the creek bed right here" Daryl said, pointing to the spot on the map as Hershel started cleaning and stitching his side. "Must have dropped it trying to cross." Shifting slightly, I looked at the spot he had pointed to.

"Not too far from where I fell..." I muttered. Thankfully no one paid attention to me, I hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"Cuts the grid almost in half" Rick said.

"Yea you're welcome" Daryl said, but the tone in his voice seemed to be ignored by Rick.

"How's he looking?"our leader asked the doctor.

"I had no idea we'd be going through antibiotics so quickly" was Hershel's reply, glancing in my direction. "Any idea what happened to my horse?" he asked as he went to wash his hands in the basin near by.

"Yea the one that almost killed me?" Daryl started "If it was smart it left the country."

"We call that one Nelly" Informed Hershel "As in Nervous Nelly. I could have told you she'd throw you if you'd bothered to ask. It's a wonder you people have survived this long." He directed that last bit to Rick.

Hershel was kind of a dick.

Everyone except for me and Daryl left the room after that. And the two of us sat in silence while everyone enjoyed their dinner downstairs. Honestly, even if I could get my ass down those stairs, I wouldn't. If I went anywhere near Andrea I would have hit her. And I couldn't stand being that close to Shane for that long.

So I sat in silence with Daryl.

After about an hour or two, Carol came up with two plates. She had tried to get me to come downstairs and eat with the others, but I 'politely' declined. There was even a moment where she was thanking Daryl that I had tried to ignore.

"Why ain't you eatin' with all them?" Daryl finally asked me, I just shook my head.

"You know if I was a little closer and wasn't going through my own crazy shit, you probably would have gotten back here in better condition than you did" was all I said. I couldn't stop thinking about how close on the grid the two of us had fallen.

"Ain't you're fault" Daryl shrugged. I just sighed, I knew that it wasn't my fault. "Still ain't answered my question."

"It's stupid..." I sighed.

"So?" Daryl shrugged.

"Fine..." I caved "It's Shane... he just... I don't know. He's just starting to remind me of this guy in my last group..."

"They that bad?" he asked. I just nodded.

"Worse."

* * *

 **AN: Alright, so that just happened. I figured that my other TWD story had so much go right for my OC, that I needed to do something different and show the difficulties and trauma and drama and stuff in this one.**

 **Even though I didn't want Ally to have too much a similar experience as Daryl, it kind of made sense. At least with the way I want this story to go.**

 **Okay, so Ally obviously has some kind of attachment to Daryl. I mean, she booked it across a field on a sprained ankle when he got shot. And don't forget her reaction to Andrea.**

 **I was going to do more in the last portion of this chapter, but honestly I really couldn't think of anything lol.**

 **Tomorrow's chapter might have some Ally/ Daryl alone time so that they can really get to know each other. Not in the 'wink wink nudge nudge' way though, lol. They just need to have some bonding time.**

 **As Always, Leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf )0(**


	8. Day Seventy

**Chapter Eight**

 **-Day 70-**

I was still in the chair when I woke up the next morning. There was still a slight twinge of pain in my ankle when I put some pressure on it, but it was enough for me to limp around on and not be in much pain. I just had to remind myself to take it easy.

Even though he could use at least another day under Hershel's roof, I know that Daryl would want to go back to his tent even sooner. So I stayed in the room and waited for him to wake up. Thankfully I didn't have to wait that long.

"The hell you still doin' here?" Daryl asked, his voice still thick with sleep.

"Well, I thought you would want to get outta this place. But if you'd rather stay..." I trailed off as I started to the door.

"Nah, hold up" he told me. Thankfully my back was turned, otherwise he would have seen the smirk on my face.

Slowly the two of us made our way out of the room, and out of the house. Getting back to our tents was annoying to say the least. But with both of us being injured it was to be expected. We still made pretty good time. And just as we unzipped his tent, Daryl and I saw a horse run across the feild near the barn .

"Damn thing" I heard Daryl grumble. I couldn't help but chuckle at that. That horse was lucky that there wasn't any glue factories nearby.

"Mind if I hang out?" I asked, and Daryl just shrugged as he plopped down on his cot.

I'll take that as a yes. Especially since he didn't say anything when I came in and sat down.

Daryl and I both had the same idea when we were finally situated in his tent. Cleaning and sharpening our weapons. Granted I had to limp back to my tent to grab my knives and machete, but still.

Running a finger over the blade of my machete I sighed. Shit was duller than I had expected. This was going to take a while. At least it would distract me from the fact that bot Daryl and I were out of commission and we couldn't look for Sophia today.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Andrea had stopped by Daryl's tent to apologize a little while ago. It was awkward as all hell. I still hadn't sharpened all of my knives and I was sitting on the ground. Right next to the head of Daryl's cot. All while Daryl lay there poking holes in the little window of his tent with an arrow.

I had tried to get him to stop. But every time I tried he would shut me up by saying that I sucked at sharpening a blade.

He wasn't wrong.

At one point in time, Daryl had taken over before he made me ' _sharpen my own damn knives_ ' before handing everything back to me. I could tell it was because his side still hurt, but I knew not to say anything.

So suffice to say that when Andrea stopped by, she was lucky I had a pretty good hold on my temper. That and it would probably be frowned up if I hurt her. I was new to the group after all.

No, I'll just leave the whole 'going psycho' thing to Shane. Just by looking at the way he _walked_ you could tell that he was loosing his cool.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What" Daryl all but sighed.

"Do you think Shane's loosing his shit?" I asked bluntly.

"I think he come back with a dead guys only gun"Daryl shrugged. Well that was one way of answering my question.

* * *

Daryl understood why I didn't want to go to the gun training session with the others. I don't think I could deal with Shane. Plus I already knew how to handle my gun properly.

An hour or two after lunch, I decided to go for a short walk. Not like I could go for a long one with my ankle all messed up. What I wasn't expecting, however, was that Daryl was going to follow me out of the tent.

We didn't go far, though, just on the other side of the field. We could still see the camp, but we were still far enough that we wouldn't be bothered.

Since the doc had said that I needed to stretch or do some form of physical therapy, I decided that a little walk and about an hour of Tai Chi would be exactly what I needed.

"What are you doing?" Daryl asked, plopping himself down on the ground.

"Tai chi" I breathed.

"The fuck is _tai chi_ " Daryl asked.

"Just some old shit a friend of mine taught me a few years back" I told him as I moved into a new sequence. "Figured it would be pretty good P.T for my ankle."

"Looks like kung fu"

I couldn't help but laugh at Daryls' comparison.

"Just cooler."

* * *

 **AN: Okay so my long chapter streak is over. But since not much happened with daryl in the show on day 70, I had to make it all up. Honestly I had thought it was longer lol.**

 **Buuuuuut anyways, regardless of the word count, I hope you all like this little snippet of the Daryl/ Ally alone time. Hopefully the next time I do something like this it will be longer, and more will happen.**

 **Oh and the whole 'Ally does tai chi' thing was random. It's something ive always wanted to give a try, but i have like zero motivation lol. So I live vicariously through my fanfiction characters lol.**

 **Day 71 will be more exciting I can promise you that ;)**

 **So let me know what you think so far!**

 **As Always. Leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf )0(**


	9. Day Seventy One

**Chapter Nine**

 **\- Day Seventy One -**

I felt a lot better the next morning that I was able to walk out to where everyone was getting ready for breakfast. All by myself and with very little pain. I did all but fall to the ground, though. As soon as I was situated on the ground, I tossed the blanket I had brought out down towards my feet. Figured that I would keep it elevated when I was sitting, doing nothing.

"Here you go, Ally" Carol smiled as she handed me a plate.

"Thanks Carol" I smiled, stabbing into the eggs. The woman smiled back at me as she moved on to give Daryl a little more. The second she turned her back, Daryl leaned over and scraped half of his eggs onto my plate. I had plenty already, I don't know why the hell he did that.

But I knew better than to argue or ask questions. Especially with that man.

"Um, guys..." Glenn all but stammered as he stood up in front of us all. "So...the barns full of walkers.

What the hell did he just say? The barns full of... Oh fuck...

My heart damn near stopped as my fork dropped down onto my plate.

Everyone looks at the guy. I totally don't envy him right now. The entire group had the 'shoot the messenger' look in their eyes. Especially Shane. As if it was Glenn's fault someone had trapped a bunch of walkers in a feeble ass barn.

Which was a two minute walker from where I camp was. Literally. Two minutes later we were all gathered around the outside of the barn. Sure we stood a safe distance outside of the barn doors, but we could still hear the snarls. Smell the decaying flesh.

I didn't even realize that I had moved until I was looking at the barn over Daryl's shoulder. I wasn't there a minute ago.

"You cannot tell me you're alright with this" Shane scoffed as he walked over to where Rick stood. Shane was the only one crazy enough to actually approach the barn.

"No I'm not" Rick told him. "But we're guests here, this isn't out land."

"God this is our lives!" Shane shouted, causing the walkers to grow louder at the prospect of fresh meat.

"Lower your voice" Glenn told him. I really hoped Shane did. I could tell that there were at least a dozen walkers in that barn, just by their growls alone. And if Shane kept going on this way, he could cause them to compromise the only thing keeping them in there.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug" Andrea spoke up.

"It ain't right. Not remotely" Shane shook his head. He had that look in his eyes again, the one that made me want to cower.

No. I wasn't weak.

"We either got to go in there" Shane continued "We gotta make things right, or we gotta just go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time."

"We can't go" Rick told him.

"Why, Rick? Why?" Shane asked.

"Because my daughters still out there" Carol answered for our leader. But I could tell that Rick didn't want us to leave the Greene's farm for a different reason.

"Okay" I swear Shane almost laughed. "Okay I think it's time that we all start to just consider the _other_ possibility."

"We are _not_ leaving Sophia behind" Rick shook his head.

"I'm close to finding this girl." Daryl finally spoke up, taking a step towards Shane. "I just found her doll two days ago."

"You found her doll, Daryl, that's what you did . You found a _doll_ " Shane told him.

"Why don't you stop being a fucking dick, Shane?" I asked. I honestly didn't mean too, it just sort of slipped out. The look Shane gave me was like ice down my spine. It was one I had seen all too often not even a month ago. So why stop now? "I mean seriously, you went out to look for her, what, _once_?"

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Daryl all but shouted, taking Shane's attention off of me.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said!" Shane defended angrily "You get a good lead, it's in the first forty eight hours."

"Shane stop!" Rick shouted, trying to hold back his friend.

"Let me tell you something else, man" Shane continued. "If she was alive out there and saw you coming, all methed out with your buck knife, geek ears around you're neck... she would have run in the other direction!"

Wrong move on Shane's part. He knew better than most that Daryl had a temper. I don't think he cared, I think he wanted Daryl gone and was trying to do it without killing him.

"Back the fuck off Shane" I growled as he fought to where I stood near Daryl. Then, suddenly, I was on the ground. With a wince I stood and looked towards Rick. "Control you fucking mutt."

And with that I limped back towards camp.

* * *

I spent most of the rest of the day in my tent. Daryl had gone to try and take another horse out. I didn't bother trying to talk him out of it. There was no point, sure we've gotten close since I've been with the group, but it wasn't like he would listen to me.

Besides, I wasn't sure if I was staying. Not with Shane being the way he was.

I don't know how much time had past before I made up my mind. But when I finally did, I left my tent with a sigh to go and get my gun. Look for Sophia one more time then go from there.

As I walked to the RV, I waved to Glenn as he walked by wearing Dale's hat. I wasn't even going to comment on that one. Inside, I saw Dale staring at the bag of guns. What was he planning?

"Hey Dale, think I can get my gun back?" I asked.

"Why would you need that?" he asked.

"Just gunna look for Sophia one last time" I shrugged. "Whether or not I come back after is still up in the air."

"Do you think that's a good idea on that ankle?"

"Do you think it's a good idea to stick around with Shane going bat shit?" I retaliated. Dale seemed to understand what I was saying before unzipping the bag and grabbing my gun. "You know, I know where you can hide that."

"How did you..." Dale didn't need to finish his sentence before I shrugged.

"I could tell by the look in your eye. Come on, you're gunna need a trash bag." I told him as I holstered my weapon.

A few minutes later, I led Dale into the swamp. If he was going to hide the guns he was going to do it right.

"You hide a lot of guns in your life?" Dale asked me as I pulled out the large black trash bag.

But before I could answer another voice spoke through the tree.

"Man this is a good hiding place" Fuck it was Shane. "We ain't been in the swamps much, huh?"

"Wow Shane. You found us pretty well, Now imagine if you applied your superior tracking skills to finding that kid. Hell, we'd already be at Fort Benning." I really need to learn how to shut my fucking mouth.

"How about ya'll just give me that bag, huh?" Shane 'suggested' as he walked over to us.

"I'm not gunna do that" Dale told him simply.

"Yea, you are Dale" Shane stated. "Unless, well, you _do_ have hat rifle over your shoulder. And you got your cannon, now, don't you Ally?" he asked and my hand instantly went to my desert eagle.

I could end him and I wouldn't loose a wink of sleep over it. Dale could probably sense that and he discreetly shook his head at me.

"You gunna shoot us like you did Otis?" Dale asked. So he had put it together too.

"You gunna spin another story, Shane?" I questioned, folding my arms over my chest.

"Nah, man." Shane chuckled. "Hell, when you really look at it in the cold light of day, you're pretty much dead already. Just give me the guns. Do it now."

"Do you really think this is going to keep us safe?" Dale asked Shane.

"Or that clearing that barn will make you king shit?"

"I know it is." I choose to believe that the psycho chose not to acknowledge my question.

"Rick is trying to get Hershel..."

"Dale shut up. Just shut up and give me the guns."

Instead of handing Shane the bag, Dale did something I wasn't expecting him to do. He took his rifle and aimed it straight at Shane's chest.

"Am I gonna have to shoot you?" Dale asked "Do I have to kill you, is that what it's gonna take?"

As if calling the old mans bluff, Shane walked forward so that the nose of the rifle was resting directly above his heart.

"Yea. That's what it's gonna take."

"He's not worth it Dale" I said quietly. Sure I thought Shane deserved it, but it wasn't worth Dale's soul.

Thankfully Dale heard me and lowered his weapon.

"This is where you belong, Shane" Dale told the crazy man.

"Hows that, Dale?"

"This world. What it is now, this is where you belong" Dale answered with a shake of his head as he shoulder his rifle. "I may not have what it takes to last for long, but that's okay. 'Cause at least I can say when the world goes to shit I didn't let it take me down with it." He added, shoving the bag of guns into Shane's chest.

"Fair enough" was all Shane said before he left.

"This is gunna be bad" I told Dale not even a minute later.

"How did you know that he lied about what happened with Otis?" Dale asked.

"I've known the kind of crazy that's living inside of him" I told Dale as I started limping beside him. "Plus. He came back with the dudes gun."

* * *

When Dale and I heard the gunshots we ran. Well, I ran the best I could on my ankle. We reached the others just in time to see a dead girl walking out of the barn.

Sophia.

Thankfully Daryl caught Carol before she threw herself to her walker daughter. Nobody could pull the trigger on her. I don't blame them. This was _Sophia_. I didn't know her all that well, but even I couldn't pull my gun on a child. Walker or not. When Rick started walking forward with his gun in hand, I turned my back.

I jumped when Rick pulled the trigger. I didn't even notice when Carol ran past me.

But when I heard Beth screaming, I turned and walked towards her. Everyone worked to get the distraught girl away from the walker. The second Beth was pulled away from the living corpse of her mother, I fired two bullets into the dead womans' brain.

The sound of Shane's rant found my ears as I walked back to my tent. There was no way Hershel and his family knew that that little girl was dead and in the barn. From what I could hear, Otis put the walkers in the barn, this was Hershel and Jimmy's first attempt at it. Sophia had to have died that first night.

This was all Shane's fault. Shane killed Otis. If Shane hadn't of killed Otis none of this would have happened. We wouldn't have been patrolling the woods looking for her.

I needed to leave.

* * *

I was procrastinating, I knew that. There was nothing wrong with this group, nothing at all. Just Shane. No matter what, that man was too far gone. While everyone was digging the graves for Sophia, Shawn and Annette, I was helping Daryl break down his tent.

When I moved to take down the one he had given me, I got a funny look from the red neck. I couldn't meet his eye for some reason.

And of course I had to stay for the funerals. When Carol didn't show up, I sent Daryl a questioning look. He just shook his head.

"So you leavin'?" Daryl asked as I helped him set up his tent further away from the group. It was he didn't want to stay either.

"I haven't made up my mind yet" I told him.

"You took down the tent" he pointed out.

"Yea" I sighed, sitting down on the ground as Daryl finished. "I just... I just can't be around Shane. At all."

"So set your shit up out here, whats the big deal?"

Well, I suppose I could do that.

* * *

No, I didn't end up end up moving my stuff up to Daryl's solo camp. Instead I was in a car with an erratic Lori.

Apparently Beth had collapsed from the trauma of the day. With his own trauma, Hershel decided to start drinking again and snuck away from the farm. Rick and Glenn went after him. I don't know why Lori was freaking out, Rick and Glenn could handle themselves, and they've only been gone for like half an hour. If that.

We hadn't been driving for that long when Lori decided to navigate by herself. Thankfully I was able to grab the wheel for her and swerve out of the way of a lone walker. But the shock caused Lori to accelerate and we ended up crashing.

The next thing I knew, the sun had set. And there was a walker trying to force itself through the cracked windshield. On the upside, Lori was awake and alive. So there was that.

But there was one main issue right now. I didn't have my gun, I had left it with Daryl. And I couldn't get to my knife.

"Out my side" I told her, since the walker was getting in on the drivers side. But instead of listening to me, Lori made herself as small as possible on the floorboards. And apparently there was a screwdriver down there because it was shoved through the walkers eye.

But we still had to worry about the walker in the center of the road. Apparently we had hit it and it was just now starting to get up.

I couldn't get to Lori's side of the car fast enough. My leg was still really messed up. Just as I rounded the car, there was a gunshot. Apparently Lori had thought to bring a gun with her.

Letting out a deep sigh, I leaned against the back of the now totaled car. That was too close.

We should have gone back to the farm, if Lori wasn't on a mission that is. That woman could power walk like a mother fucker.

I was in pain. My ankle was throbbing and there was a pain in my shoulder. But I was able to keep Lori in my line of vision as she walked ahead of me.

Not too long later, I let out a temporary sigh of relief. Headlights meant a car, and I could only hope that that car had our people in them We weren't the only group of survivors in the world, Let alone the state.

Just my luck. It was fucking Shane.

"I'll walk back" I told him after he told Lori that Rick, Glenn and Hershel had gotten back to the farm already. It was bullshit of course, but it got Lori's stubborn ass into the car. And of course it was after Shane tried to rip me a new one for letting Lori crash the car.

Asshole.

"On that leg? Get in the car Ally" Shane tried to order. Fuck, he had me there. As uncomfortable with it as I was, I knew that he wouldn't try to kill me just yet. Not with Lori there.

Then there was a sound that made my heart soar in relief. A motorcycle.

"Get on the bike Talulah."

* * *

 **AN: Wow, at 2,700 words, this is my longest chapter yet! I honestly almost didn't get it out today (tonight) at all. So far out of all the days I've written so far, day 71 is the longest. Three episodes.**

 **Okay so I'm wicked exhausted right now and my baby wants to eat, so I'm not really gunna get into everything that happened in that chapter. So I'm just leave it at: let me know what you think!**

 **As Always, Leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf )0(**


	10. Day Seventy Two

**Chapter ten**

 **\- Day Seventy Two -**

Apparently Lori was pregnant. And apparently only a few people knew about the newest addition. But if I had known, then I would have actually tried to keep the woman safe at the farm. She didn't need to go out there, not just because she was pregnant, but because she didn't know how to handle herself out there. She was still clinging to a way of life that didn't work anymore.

Shane had tried jumping down my throat about bringing her out there. As if it were my idea to go out there and look for people who were perfectly able to handle themselves. But Daryl had gotten him to back off and before leading me back to his solo camp.

When morning came, Daryl walked me back to the main camp. Rick, Glenn and Hershel hadn't gotten back yet, so a small group was going to go into town to bring them back. Daryl had threatened to all but hog-tie me so that I would stay at the farm.

"I don't need to be worryin' about you" he told me. "You're legs all fucked up, Talulah, ain't no way."

"Stop fucking calling me Talulah, Daryl" I responded, sending him an angry look. But I mean, he did have a point. Sure I could walk, but I don't think I'd be able to run again after straining my ankle as much as I did yesterday.

So instead of subjecting myself to Shane's company even more, I decided to help with the laundry. Not that I wanted to spend anymore time with Lori, either. But she was the lesser of two evils.

"Are you sure you wanna risk it?" I heard Dale ask Andrea as they walked towards where I was sitting. Daryl had threatend me, saying he'd kick my ass if I moved an inch before he left. "You might not make it back.

"I'll be fine" Andrea sighed.

"With Shane at the helm, I doubt that" Dale muttered.

"Psycho's lost people before" I scoffed from the camp chair just as Dale and Andrea stopped walking.

"And he's had my back" Andrea responded. "Just what are you two insinuating?"

"He doesn't want Rick back" Dale told her.

"Or Hershel" I piped up and Dale nodded.

"With them gone, he's got everything he wants and no one to tell him otherwise." But Andrea still didn't see the truth behind the old mans words.

"Shane's done more to keep this group alive than anybody. _Including_ Rick" she told us.

"You can't possibly believe that" Dale all but scoffed.

"I do" was all Andrea said as she started walking towards the truck once more.

"The dick can't be that good" I muttered. I wasn't expecting Dale to hear me. "What, sorry Dale but it's obvious that she's fucking him."

I was just about to call out to Daryl to take my gun, but there was no need. Hell there wasn't even a need for the guys to go out anymore. Because not even a minute after Andrea walked over to Shane and the others, Hershel's red 4x4 came driving down the dirt road.

"Hey, Dale, you mind? I asked, offering my hand. The old man just smiled and helped me to my feet, supporting me as we walked over to the others. I got a small glare from Daryl, but he could get over it. It wasn't like I was walking on my own or anything.

"Patricia" Hershel addressed the blonde woman. "Prepare the shed for surgery." He told her as he walked past everyone and into the house. Probably to change his bloody clothes.

I was vaguely aware of the conversation between Rick and his wife. Only half paying attention when Shane basically blamed me for the accident. Such a fucking asswipe. At least it didn't look like Rick was blaming me. So that was something at least.

"Who in the hell is that?" T-Dog suddenly asked, pointing towards the figure still inside the truck.

"That's Randall" Glenn answered.

* * *

"We couldn't just leave him" Rick told us as we all sat in the dining room. "He would've bled out, if he lived that long."

Apparently Randall was a kid from another group. And they had left him behind when he had fallen and impaled his leg on a steel fence as they were escaping. He was lucky that the guys were there.

"It's gotten bad in town"Glenn told us, looking towards Maggie as he spoke.

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked from her spot next to Shane.

"I repaired his calf muscle as best I can" Hershel told us, wiping his hands as he entered the room. "But he'll probably have nerve damage. Won't be on his feet for at least a week"

"When he is," Rick started. "take him out to the main road, send him on his way."

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?"

"He'll have a fighting chance" I answered Andrea's question as Daryl walked onto the house, i could smell the cigarette smoke as he stood behind me. "Jerk" I muttered as I elbowed his knee playfully.

"Just let him go?" Shane scoffed. "He knows where we are."

"He was blindfolded the whole way here. He's not a threat." Rick responded. Our fearless leader seemed a little angry that his once best friend had spoken against him. But honestly, I think it might have been something more than that.

"Not a threat?" Shane scoffed once more. "How many of them where there? You killed three of their men, took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gunna come looking."

"They left him for dead" Rick defended. " _No one_ is looking!"he shouted.

"We should still post a guard" T-Dog suggested.

"Why?" I scoffed. "It's not like the kid can get anywhere on that leg" I added with a shrug.

"He's out cold" Hershel nodded in agreement. "Will be for hours."

"You know what," Shane started once more. "I'm gonna go get him some flower and candy. Look at this folks, we back in fantasy land!" he added as he started walking out the door.

"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet" Hershel addressed the crazy man. "Let me make this perfectly clear once and for all...this is _my_ farm. Now, I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor...keep your mouth shut."

"We're not going to do anything about it today. Lets just cool off." Rick told us after Shane stormed out of the house in a tantrum.

* * *

After everyone had left the house, I stayed behind so that Hershel could take another look at my ankle. It needed to be re-wrapped, but other than that it looked alright according to the old man. He also took a look at my arm. I had hurt it in the wreck yesterday and I just wanted to make sure that it didn't need any treatment.

Thankfully it was just badly bruised. I am _never_ getting into a car with Lori ever again.

And I still had to wait around for Maggie to walk me back up to Daryl's camp at the edge of the property. The poor woman just wanted to check on her sister first, which I completely understood.

So while I waited, Hershel decided to sped the time getting to know me better. Even though what happened with Shane and the barn was regrettable, I'm glad that the old farmer was putting the blame where it belonged. And that he finally understood what was happening in the world.

"So you haven't been with this group long?" he asked me. I just shook my head.

"No, just about a week or so. Daryl and Rick found me hiding out in a nursing home." I answered as I bit into a peach Hershel had given me.

"And you were alone before that?"

I almost froze.

"No" I finally answered after a moment. "well, I mean I _was_ but not for long. I was with another group when all this started but they didn't...work out."

"Is that why you have such a problem with Shane?" Hershel Greene was not a stupid man, that was for sure.

Thankfully, Hershel didn't press the issue and ask more questions about my last group. Instead he asked me the simple things like if I had any family and what I did for work in the old world. Simple.

Maggie came back downstairs not too long after that and she helped me limp back to the secluded camp. It was when she left that I remembered, I still hadn't set my tent back that it was packed away inside the RV.

"Well, you gunna sit down or what?" Daryl asked as he poked at the low fire in front of him.

"Oh, um yea" I said, taking a small step towards one of the camp chairs Daryl had set up before sitting down. "So...you mind if I crash with you tonight?"

* * *

 **AN: Okay so Daryl and Ally's just sort of... _happened_. Like...idk how to explain it. But yea I feel like maybe since Daryl feels like so much of an outsider in the beginning,and Ally technically _is_ an outsider right now that _that_ is why their getting closer as friends. And Maybe he also can tell that she had gone through hell, just like he and Carol had. Like I said, idk.**

 **Also, I totally had to have a scene with Hershel and Ally. I feel like since Hershel is at the point of having absoltely no more patience where Shane is concerned, and it's no secret that Ally doesn't like Officer Crazy Pants. So, like with Dale, it makes sense I guess that Ally and Hershel would sort of...bond over something like that.**

 **And yes I might have Ally actually call Shane Officer Crazy Pants at some point in S2 lol.**

 **So we have like a week between episodes right now. Which means I have days 73-80/81 to play with.**

 **Hint: You can look forward to some more Ally/ Daryl bonding!**

 **As Always, Leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf )0(**


	11. Day Seventy Three

**Chapter Eleven**

 **\- Day Seventy Three -**

I assumed thst Daryl went out for a small hunt the next morning. Mostly because he wasn't in the tent when I woke up. So with a large yawn, I sat up to get dressed in some clean-ish clothes for the day. Only my shit was still in Dale's RV. Great. Screw it, I'll just wait till later. Maybe Hershel will let me borrow his shower for a little while.

Getting out of the tent was a pain in the ass. Mostly it was the wobbly standing that was a pain. Thankfully I didn't have to go that far, Daryl had set up the camp chairs and fire pit not too far from the tent. After plopping my self down in the chair, I started to stretch my legs out in front of me. Mostly my ankle, rotating the best I could, stopping when the pain got to be too much.

With a small groan I lifted myself out of the chair.

"Doin' that kung fu shit again?" I heard Daryls' voice.

"Tai chi, Daryl" I chuckled as I went into the first position. It was shaky, since I couldn't put too much pressure on one side, but it was still helping. If not physically, then mentally. It always did.

"Whatever" the man muttered as he dropped his string of squirrel on the ground and sat in the dirt next to them.

"Gross" I wrinkled my nose as he started to skin his kills. "Can you teach me?" I added a moment later.

"Though you said it was gross?" If I didn't know better, I would have said that Daryl had just told a joke.

"Oh it's way fuckin' gross" I told him as I moved my arms and body accordingly. "But if I ended leaving or getting separated from you guys at any point in time...well, you can't scavenge forever, right?"

I couldn't tell what Daryl was thinking. He just kept on skinning and gutting the furry little squirrels. As he did, I worked on my Tai Chi and watched what he did. Memorizing each of his knife strokes as the blade slit into the skin and meat of the rodent.

Once I had enough of watching, I limped back to my chair and picked up one of the squirrels. Instantly I pulled out my knife and started mimicking Daryl's movements. It wasn't as easy as it had looked, let me tell ya.

* * *

Apparently Daryl wasn't planning on sharing the squirrel meat with the others. They were getting plenty of chicken from Hershel anyways. And Daryl had only shot down enough fluffy forest creatures for the two of us.

After we ate, I decided to walk down to the main camp. I really needed to change my clothes. Plus it was getting chillier and having my sweatshirt would probably be a good idea. My ankle was feeling a lot better now, so I didn't need help walking across the field.

A fact I'm sure Daryl appreciated.

"Hey there, Ally" Rick greeted as I limped into camp.

"Hey Rick" I smiled. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to see how your doing" Rick shrugged.

"I'm good. Ankles starting to feel a bit better. So there's that"

"Good" Rick nodded "That's good. You know if you wanted, well, there's more than enough room here in camp..."

"No thank you" was all I said before I continued on towards the RV to grab my bag.

"Look..." Rick continued as he caught up to me. "I'm sorry if we made you feel like an outsider..."

"It's not that, Rick." I cut him off with a sigh.

"Whatever it is, Ally, we can talk about it. You don't have to isolate yourself" the groups leader told me.

"I'm not isolating myself, Rick" I told him. "I just feel more comfortable at a distance. Especially with your right hand man loosing his shit."

"It would help if you would stop butting heads with him." I really hope Rick didn't mean to say that.

"It's not like I'm meaning too, man" I said, running my hands through my dirty hair. "Look, Shane's the reason I'm out there with Daryl. Me being out on the side lines like that limits the contact between me and Officer Crazy Pants."

And with that, I grabbed my bag and went to ask Hershel if I could use his shower.

* * *

Hershel Greene was my hero. For real. It was just after sun down and I was sitting back at Daryl's camp site with stringy wet hair and a pair of clean clothes. And I was enjoying a good portion of barbecued pig. Daryl had apparently found a boar while out hunting and brought it back to camp, splitting the meat this time with the main group.

In those few days or hours before Sophia went missing, when I first joined up with the group, I could see it. I could see how they all felt about Daryl. Sure it's lessened and they've grown to accept him a little since getting to the farm. But it wasn't by much. Only Carol seemed to appreciate all the man did.

I just saw Daryl Dixon as a person. A survivor. He truly had what it took to survive and maybe even thrive in this new world.

"Hey Daryl?" I asked quietly after swallowing a bit of pork. He just grunted in response. "I want to survive." At this he just looked up at me with the question glinting in his eyes. "Can you teach me"?

* * *

 **AN: Okay, so this chapters not as long as I wanted it to be. But really I was drawing a blank on what to do for this one. I won't promise days 74-80/81 will be longer. But I can promise that I'll try.**

 **In the next few days of this story we'll see aloooooot more Ally/ Daryl bonding, maybe some aggro-ness from Shane. And some more bonding between Ally and everyone else in the group.**

 **So you can look forward to that and let me know what you think! lol**

 **As Always, Leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf )0(**


	12. Day Seventy Four

**Chapter Twelve**

 **\- Day Seventy Four -**

Daryl had agreed. A part of me was surprised that he had. But after I told him why, he understood. We should have left camp at first light, but that couldn't happen. Considering we had to run the idea by Rick first.

"Hey, Rick" Daryl greeted as we walked over to where Rick stood with Carl. "Found some deer tracks yesterday that seemed pretty fresh. Gunna see if I can track the thing down, get us some venison" he said. "Gunna be a few days."

"Are you sure?" Rick asked.

"Yea man" Daryl nodded. "Gunna teach Ally ta hunt."

"Are _you_ sure?" the man asked me.

"Yea, why wouldn't I be?" I retorted. "It would be better if more of us knew the ins and outs of hunting, that way Daryl can take a break every now and then" I added.

We really didn't have to make our case. Rick agreed wholeheartedly and simply told us to be careful. Of course he would, the last time the two of us were out in the woods at the same time we both got pretty hurt and had a pretty shitty time. Hopefully this time would be better.

There really wasn't much Daryl and I had to do to get ready for our trip into the woods, so after we talked to Rick we set off. Apparently the first thing Daryl was going to do was teach me how to use his crossbow. I couldn't go around shooting squirrels and deer with my desert eagle after all.

* * *

I let out a shaky breath. This was my shot, if I missed then this hunt was over. I stood stock still as I looked down the barrel of Daryl's large crossbow. As the critters tail twitched, I lined up my shot. The second I pulled the trigger, however, the squirrel moved.

"Fuck" I whispered harshly. How the hell could I have missed?

"Well it wasn't a head shot, that's for damn sure" Daryl told me. "But you still got it" he added.

Looking at where the squirrel had been I saw that the arrow had been fired, and pinned the squirrel to the tree by it's tail. Well shit. Quickly I turned my head as Daryl plunged his knife into the squirrels head, putting it out of it's misery.

Sure I wanted to learn how to hunt, and killing walkers was a walk in the park. But there was something about seeing the knife go into the squirrels little head that I was still a bit squeamish about. It was stupid. Especially considering that I was cutting into one just yesterday.

"Hows that ankle?" Daryl asked as we settled in for lunch. With a small groan, I stretched my leg out in front of me and rotated my ankle.

"It still kinda stingy, but I'm good" I told him. "I'll be good to go by the time we're done with lunch." Daryl just grunted in response as he checked on our squirrels.

The meat was done cooking not too long later, and the two of us dug in not too long after that. It wasn't much, but it would tide us over for now. Hopefully we would be back at camp in another day or two with an entire deer. And maybe some extra rabbits and squirrels.

* * *

Daryl decided to train me to use the crossbow while on the move, we were burning daylight by staying still. He even said that tomorrow he would help me learn how to use a regular bow. I wasn't surprised to learn that the redneck knew how to make one.

The crossbow was heavy in my hands, and I was almost surprised that Daryl had let me hold it for this long. I don't think that there was ever a moment that I had seen the weapon out of Daryl's hands. At the very least it was always within reach.

Suffice to say I felt pretty fucking honored.

Suddenly, the sound of moans and growls found our ears and I rose the crossbow in preparation. The walker was too close to make a run for it.

"You got this" Daryl told me, pulling his knife just in case.

Slowly the walker hobbled into my sights and lined up the shot. The thing was getting closer. Too close. Any minute now it would be right on top of us. I was panicking and I knew that, if I missed then it would be game over.

Not even a second later the walker was on the ground, an arrow between it's eyes. As soon as it hit the dirt I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding.

"Damn girl" Daryl whistled as he inspected my kill. "Any closer and this nasty son of a bitch woulda had a nice big meal."

I just sighed in relief. "Honestly" I told him "I didn't even know I pulled the damn trigger." And true to his character, Daryl just grunted and back to his deer tracks.

"C'mon, we're loosing daylight."

* * *

The sun had dropped lower in the sky and we still hadn't found the damn deer. Daryl and I only had one more walker encounter. And it was at the abandoned farm house we had stumbled on when it was decided to make camp for the night.

While I skinned the two rabbits we had caught before making sure the farm house was safe, Daryl began carving at the thick branch of red cedar. He really wanted his crossbow back tomorrow. I had almost forgotten that he said that he would teach me how to use a regular bow. And apparently so did he. There was nothing around that we could use for bow string.

"Looks like we'll have to wait till we get back to camp" Daryl shrugged as he put aside the limb he was whittling.

"By the way" I started as I sorted through my bag "thanks for letting me come with."

"You had a point" the red neck shrugged once more. "This groups falling apart, if your gunna stay with them, gotta have someone who's gunna feed 'em" he added. "And I rather show you how to survive than Shane."

"What, you're not gunna stay?" I asked when I finally found what I was looking for. Dinner meant that I was going to split up some of the baked beans I had packed for the trip. Daryl just shrugged as he stroked the low fire we had started.

We ate dinner in silence. I mean what could we possibly talk about. The weather? not a fucking chance. So we sat in silence. Daryl took first watch and while he did, I curled up on the couch and thumbed through one of my books. It was a boring read and I found my self tiring out.

Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

* * *

 **AN: Okay so that last little scene was random and absolutely out of fucking no where. But I needed something to up the word count lol.**

 **Also I apologize for not updating the past few days. Life and a mild case of writers block got in the way. lol**

 **So I feel like this is the real beginning to Ally and Daryl's friendship. Its obvious he feels something towards her, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to teach her and stuff.**

 **I will admit that there were some errors in this chapter. For instance the bow. I realized late in writing this one that, well, how could Daryl teach her how to use a regular bow without any string. All they had was wood. Soooo...yea lol.**

 **Anyways**

 **As Always, Leave Love**

 **)0( Iris RainbowWolf )0(**

 **PS: is it wrong that i'm starting to like this story better than my other one? lol**


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